Wanting to start a relationship with God...

[KMF85]

I am a 26 year old female. I am wanting to build a relationship with God and really don't know where to begin. I feel so uneducated on the subject and don't really know which steps to take. I've tried praying and asking God into my life, but I don't ever get that strong feeling that I've heard so many people talk about. When will it start to click? When will I begin feeling God's presence? I consider myself a good person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. However, I sometimes feel that I judge others too quickly. I have a hard time being compassionate and I tend to look at what's on the outside rather than what's on the inside. I feel like I am constantly seeking approval from others. Most of my happiness is superficial. I see and hear people who have a strong faith in God, and their lives seem so much more fulfilling than my own. I let negative people get the best of me. I often get caught up in petty drama (at work, for example), rather than being the one who stays clear of it. I am trying to better myself as a person and feel that having a strong relationship with God will help guide me to being happier and having a better appreciation for life. I've noticed myself wanting to be more reclusive lately... wanting to distance myself from friends who aren't supportive and wanting to stay clear of anyone who brings negative energy into my life. I am really focused on bettering myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? How to I begin to build a relationship with God and live a more fulfilling life dedicated to his word?

 

[Memukan]

I am a 26 year old female. I am wanting to build a relationship with God and really don't know where to begin. I feel so uneducated on the subject and don't really know which steps to take. I've tried praying and asking God into my life, but I don't ever get that strong feeling that I've heard so many people talk about. When will it start to click? When will I begin feeling God's presence? I consider myself a good person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. However, I sometimes feel that I judge others too quickly. I have a hard time being compassionate and I tend to look at what's on the outside rather than what's on the inside. I feel like I am constantly seeking approval from others. Most of my happiness is superficial. I see and hear people who have a strong faith in God, and their lives seem so much more fulfilling than my own. I let negative people get the best of me. I often get caught up in petty drama (at work, for example), rather than being the one who stays clear of it. I am trying to better myself as a person and feel that having a strong relationship with God will help guide me to being happier and having a better appreciation for life. I've noticed myself wanting to be more reclusive lately... wanting to distance myself from friends who aren't supportive and wanting to stay clear of anyone who brings negative energy into my life. I am really focused on bettering myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? How to I begin to build a relationship with God and live a more fulfilling life dedicated to his word?

Hello KMF85,

GOD is already drawing you to Himself. Start by reading the first 4 books of the New Testament Matthew,Mark, and Luke. They tell the same story but from different witness accounts. John is a beautiful book on Ye'shua (Jesus) as Divine. Ask GOD to guide you as you seek HIM.

 

[Harry3142]

KMF85-

Our closeness to God doesn't depend on how good we are, because we can never be good enough to please him if left to our own devices. Instead, it depends on how much confidence (aka faith) we place in God himself to have overcome the obstacles that have formed a chasm between us and him.

Here are some Scripture passages for you to look up in order to get a better perspective of the relationship which we need to have with God:

1. Luke 17:7-10. Jesus himself told his followers in this passage that their works are not to be seen by them as earning any prizes. Instead, what they do is to be seen by them as nothing more than what they should have done, and so unworthy of receiving any reward. In other words, we are to be childlike in our faith, but now childish in our attitude toward what we do on behalf of God's kingdom.

2. Romans 3:19 to 5:10. Not only are we not saved by keeping the law, but we are actually condemned through our knowledge of it. It is when we put our faith in God and what he has accomplished on our behalf rather than putting it in our own works that we obtain the righteousness as a gift that we could never earn as a salary. The righteousness which God requires of us is a righteousness which he must provide to us; we cannot earn it through our own efforts, but instead must accept it humbly as a gift, both unearned and undeserved.

3. Romans 7:14-25. It would seem logical that we would show our gratitude to God through the keeping of his laws. But St. Paul himself recognized a serious problem within his own psyche that prevented him from obeying those laws, and that problem has been identified by psychologists today as a quirk in our nature which they call 'paradoxical intention'. We all have this quirk, and it causes us to utterly fail at anything we try to do. Either we do it naturally and without effort or we don't succeed in doing it at all.

4. Galatians 5:16-26. What we cannot do, namely, change our nature, God can do for us. Through his Spirit he subdues those desires and emotions which are called 'the acts of the sinful nature' and implants in us what is called 'the fruit of the Spirit'. It is the 9 emotions listed as 'the fruit of the Spirit' that enable us to do the work that God wants of us. So not only is our salvation a gift from God, but the deeds which follow it are also to be seen as the result of another gift from God. What we cannot do as a result of trying to obey a set of laws God has enabled us to do through his writing 'laws on the heart' (the 9 'fruit').

5. Matthew 25:31-46. The clue that we have truly accepted Christ as both Lord and savior isn't to be found in pietism, elitism, ritualism, traditionalism, legalism, or even judgementalism. Instead, it's evidenced in our compassion toward others. And just as Jesus Christ's own compassion for those he saw around him showed itself through his rolling up his sleeves and going to work alleviating their suffering, so our compassion for those we see around us is to manifest itself through our efforts at alleviating the suffering we see around us.

I hope this helps. God bless-

 

[1watchman]

I recommend every earnest seeker read John 3 and John 14 as starters, then earnestly talk to our Creator-God, and seek to know and receive His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus --our only Savior. Its all about that relationship.

 

[Peripatetic]

Welcome! A few thoughts:

1. Not everyone has a "strong feeling" when God comes into their lives. It's different for everyone... for some it can be a more subtle seed that grows and develops over time.

2. The fact that you see those negative, worldly qualities in yourself is a big first step towards managing them. Again, it's not an overnight thing. Some of our sinful patterns will start to go away as we continue our walk with God, but others will be a challenge all of our lives.

3. Switching from the pursuit of "superficial happiness" to true joy is one of the toughest transitions a Christian makes. It's kind of like swimming upstream, but the more you stick with it, the more true contentment you will feel.

The best advice that I can give is to put some time into learning the Bible... not just the verses, but the bigger themes and how certain things fit together. Have you tried reading a daily devotion or two? They take only a few minutes, and they usually give you a few lines of scripture along with some practical insight that shows how it is relevant to us today. Here are a bunch of free ones:

Daily Devotionals and Bible Devotions, Free Online, Christian Study

 

[Bible2]

KMF85 said in post #1:

When will I begin feeling God's presence?

If we don't feel any relationship with God, even though we consider ourselves to be Christians, it could be because we've subconsciously hardened our hearts against God because of something bad that happened in our life (for example, the death of a loved one). We could be subconsciously blaming him for letting that bad thing happen, instead of using his power to keep it from happening.

Also, we also need to examine ourselves to see if we're truly in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5, Proverbs 28:26, Proverbs 14:12). The way to do this is to read every word of the Bible (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:4) and see if we accept everything that it teaches as having come from God (John 8:47, 2 Timothy 3:16). For just as a true faith will initially come from reading (or hearing) what the Bible teaches (Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 3:15), so we can know that we're remaining in the true faith if we continue to believe that everything the Bible teaches came from God (John 8:31b, 2 Timothy 4:2-4, 1 Timothy 4:1, Mark 8:35-38).

In order to have any real relationship with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), most importantly we must believe the right things about Jesus (John 14:6-7): that he's God the Word made flesh (John 1:1,14), that he's the Christ (1 John 5:1, 1 John 2:22), that he's the only begotten (only born) Son of God (John 3:16,36, 1 John 2:23), meaning that he's the only person ever born without any human father (Luke 1:34-35). And we must believe that Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life (Hebrews 4:15, 2 Corinthians 5:21) and so he could die on the Cross for all our sins and rise from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). He rose and will remain forever in an immortal flesh and blood human body (Luke 24:39, 2 John 1:7), as our eternally-human high priest/mediator (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 2:16-17, Hebrews 7:24-26).

Once we come into faith in Jesus, we must obey him and God the Father and the Holy Spirit by repenting from all our sins and getting water-immersion (burial) baptized into Jesus (Acts 2:38, Romans 6:3-5, Galatians 3:27). Then we can get hands laid on us to receive the Holy Spirit baptism (Acts 8:17) and one or more of his wonderful Spiritual gifts (Acts 19:6, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10). Then, washed from all our sins by water baptism (Acts 22:16) and empowered by the Holy Spirit within us (Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:16), we must each and every day for the rest of our lives deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23, 2 Corinthians 5:15), by continuing in the faith unto the end (Hebrews 3:6,12,14, Hebrews 6:4-8, John 15:6, 2 Timothy 2:12b), by repenting from every sin that we might commit (Hebrews 10:26-29, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46), and by doing the particular spiritual works which he has given us as individuals to do (Mark 13:34, Romans 12:6-8, Titus 3:8).

But if we as believers wrongly employ our free will to refuse to do these things, then we can't expect to have any continued real relationship with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit. For a continued real relationship with them requires that we not only continue to believe in them but also continue to obey them (John 15:10, John 14:21,23); faith without works is dead (James 2:20) and cannot ultimately save us (James 2:14-26, Romans 2:6-8, Matthew 7:21, Hebrews 5:9, Revelation 22:14).

At some point in the future, Jesus will descend bodily from heaven (Acts 1:11-12, Zechariah 14:3-4, Revelation 19:11-21) and obedient believers will be resurrected or changed in the twinkling of an eye into immortal human bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 15:21-23,51-53). Then Jesus will judge all believers (Psalms 50:4-5, cf. Mark 13:27) by their works (2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 2:6-8, Luke 12:45-48, Matthew 25:19-30). Then obedient believers will reign on the earth with the returned Jesus for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). Sometime after that, obedient believers will live with Jesus and God the Father and the Holy Spirit in the city of New Jerusalem on a new earth (Revelation 21:1-8).

 

[Emmy]

Dear KMF85. Jesus has just the advice for you. In Matthew, chapter 22, verses 35-40, Jesus tells us: " The first and great Commandment is: Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds. The second is like it: Love our neighbour as ourselves." Then Jesus points out: " On these two Commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." It is Love what God wants from us, freely given and no conditions tagged on.
How do we start? Everyone we know or meet, friends and no friends, we will treat them as we love to be treated. Kindly and with friendly looks and smiles, helping hands ( when needed) and generally be a good neighbour. God will see our sincere efforts, and God will bless us. At the same time, we are showing God that we love God, because we are following His Commandments to love and care. Jesus will give us His Love and Joy, and the Holy Spirit will give us His Love, also. Jesus told us to: "ask and ye will receive," then we thank God, and share all Love and Joy with all around us.
We might stumble and forget sometimes, but we ask God to forgive us, and God will forgive us, as we will forgive others.
In time we change into the children/sons and daughters, which God wants us to be: God is our Heavenly Father, and God wants loving children: everything we do, or say, will be done from Love, no more selfishness and unloving, our whole character will slowly, but surly change. People will notice and treat us the same, life will become abundant, as Jesus promised us. I say this with love, KMF:There is no better and quicker way to start a loving relationship with God our Heavenly Father. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

 

[tturt]

To develop a better relationship with Him, I encourage you to spend more time with Yahweh and deliberately focus on Him - reading Scripture such as Psa 145 and play some music that's about Him and think about some of His titles, names, and attributes and sing a song to Him. I Thess 5:17; Matt 6:6; John 4:24; Psa 69:30; 71:23; and 100:4.

 

[parsley]

Your sense of wanting distance from people is similar to how people fast from food. Once in a while it's good for us to narrow down to basics, to see things more clearly. I remember a point where a past church's teachings seemed unscriptural, and I needed to step back to evaluate. It's fine to do things you need to do, temporarily.

It sounds like you're reading scriptures and praying -- both of which are important. I would think a small prayer group would be helpful right now -- meeting people who will pray with you over life issues. These aren't always under a church, but sometimes run by people who started out as friends who wanted a mid-week support system. Ask around and pray that God will lead you.

We'll pray for that too, that God brings you to a good fit in fellowship.

 

[salida]

Start at the very beginning. Repent and say your own prayer or the one below. Be baptized with water and then the holy spirit.

Repentence prayer
Dear Lord,
I am sincerely sorry for
having offended you.
And I detest all my sins,
because they offend you, my God,
You are all good and
deserving of all my love.
I firmly resolve,
with the help of your grace
To confess my sins.
To repent
And to amend my life.

Water baptism-its symbolism but it shows a good conscience towards God.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ask for the holy spirit. He will give you the power to live a christian life. Human effort alone can't do this. Pray and you will get it. This will give you the inner strength to live the christian life.
Acts 2:38

Take one day at a time and get some inspirational friends that love God by their actions. Read the bible and pray daily. Get involved in a serious church. Its a life long lifestyle and you will know God more and more. True faith is demonstrated by actions than then the feelings will come. Feelings alone are like a roller coaster. Feel free to email me if have questions.

 

[ckonrad]

Don't rely on your feelings to determine your relationship with God, rely on what Gods words says about your relationship with Him. Feelings come and go but Gods word and what it says about your new nature as a Christian are constant. You won't always feel amazing or peaceful, the Christian life is filled with the same difficulties everyone else has sometimes more difficulties. Satan is going to work hard on you, he can't take your salvation away, you're secure but he can try to fill your mind with doubts and agitation etc that is why it is important to study Gods Word and conform your mind to it. Study the Word, teach it, hear it etc and you will build your relationship with God, also don't grieve the Holy Spirit by committing sins. You share your internal life with the Holy Spirit now so if you grieve the Spirit you will feel grieved; the only way you can be happy as a born again Christian is by following Gods ways.

 

[Smashleigh17]

I started my relationship with God just under a month ago. I started off by looking into Christian morals/ethics (my own are what brought me to search for the something new to begin with, I was not at all happy with who I'd become) and then asking questions to a friend of whom I knew was a strong Christian.

After that, it all started clicking into place so I started reading these daily Bible readings from an app on my phone. It's amazing how quickly and how much you learn from the Scriptures. I have repented my sins and even attended Church for the first time last week.

Anyways my point is that repenting your sins and then spending time each day with God through reading and studying His Word and praying, as well as surrounding yourself with strong Christian influences/friends will do you a world of good in your quest for a deeper relationship with God

 

[Trinity Tiger]

I started learning about Christianity 4 years ago! It has taken me an entire 4 years to accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior and be serious about it. Y'know...walk the walk and talk the talk. It takes time. Be patient. My best advice is to just dedicate most of your day to thinking, reading, and being with God even if you are busy with other things!

 

[CGL1023]

I am a 26 year old female. I am wanting to build a relationship with God and really don't know where to begin. I feel so uneducated on the subject and don't really know which steps to take. I've tried praying and asking God into my life, but I don't ever get that strong feeling that I've heard so many people talk about. When will it start to click? When will I begin feeling God's presence? I consider myself a good person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. However, I sometimes feel that I judge others too quickly. I have a hard time being compassionate and I tend to look at what's on the outside rather than what's on the inside. I feel like I am constantly seeking approval from others. Most of my happiness is superficial. I see and hear people who have a strong faith in God, and their lives seem so much more fulfilling than my own. I let negative people get the best of me. I often get caught up in petty drama (at work, for example), rather than being the one who stays clear of it. I am trying to better myself as a person and feel that having a strong relationship with God will help guide me to being happier and having a better appreciation for life. I've noticed myself wanting to be more reclusive lately... wanting to distance myself from friends who aren't supportive and wanting to stay clear of anyone who brings negative energy into my life. I am really focused on bettering myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? How to I begin to build a relationship with God and live a more fulfilling life dedicated to his word?

You are declare yourself to be Christian and you are concerned your behavior in relation to others. The Greatest and second commandments are given in Matthew 22:37-40. 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

You are doing a lot of things right. One additional thing that you will benefit from is Joshua 1:8-9. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

 

[AvgJoe]

I am a 26 year old female. I am wanting to build a relationship with God and really don't know where to begin. I feel so uneducated on the subject and don't really know which steps to take. I've tried praying and asking God into my life, but I don't ever get that strong feeling that I've heard so many people talk about. When will it start to click? When will I begin feeling God's presence? I consider myself a good person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. However, I sometimes feel that I judge others too quickly. I have a hard time being compassionate and I tend to look at what's on the outside rather than what's on the inside. I feel like I am constantly seeking approval from others. Most of my happiness is superficial. I see and hear people who have a strong faith in God, and their lives seem so much more fulfilling than my own. I let negative people get the best of me. I often get caught up in petty drama (at work, for example), rather than being the one who stays clear of it. I am trying to better myself as a person and feel that having a strong relationship with God will help guide me to being happier and having a better appreciation for life. I've noticed myself wanting to be more reclusive lately... wanting to distance myself from friends who aren't supportive and wanting to stay clear of anyone who brings negative energy into my life. I am really focused on bettering myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? How to I begin to build a relationship with God and live a more fulfilling life dedicated to his word?

How do you build a relationship with anyone else? You talk to them, spend time with them and get to know them better.

How do you do this with God? Talk to Him in prayer. Spend time with Him and get to know Him better by reading and studying His Word, the Bible.

How can you live a life dedicated to His Word? After reading and studying the Bible, do what it says. Live your life according to it's precepts. Just like the Bible acronym says,

Beliver's
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

 

[Deserae2011]

God is working on you. You coming out and saying hey I want to know God, what do I do. Definately the first step. Prayer is powerful. It took me steps to get where I am in my walk of faith today. Just talk to God and tell him you want to know more... show me.. guide me... and keep talking. Even if you think he dont hear you or is not listening. (because in the beginning of my walk I didnt feel like I was being heard but I didn't give up.. and my results were amazing..) So feel free to message me. We can fellowship together, I can share my experience and try to help... God Bless you!

 

[Bible2]

AvgJoe said in post #15:

Talk to Him in prayer.

Amen.

In order to build and then maintain our relationship with God, we should pray to him every day, such as with the Lord's Prayer (Mt. 6:9-13), praising and worshipping him, confessing our sins to him, asking him for what we need today, and thanking him for all he's given us (Philip. 4:6). And throughout the day we should immediately bring to him in prayer anything we become worried about at anytime (Philip. 4:6-7).

Spend time with Him and get to know Him better by reading and studying His Word, the Bible.

Amen.

The best way to study the Bible, as a whole, is simply to read every word of it (Matthew 4:4) over and over again. It ends up explaining itself once every word of it has become completely engrained in one's memory, and one sees all the connections between verses regarding something in one place in the Bible and other verses regarding that same thing in other places in the Bible. It's by comparing and combining related verses from different places in the Bible that we arrive at correct doctrine (Isaiah 28:9-10, 1 Corinthians 2:13).

It's also a good practice to always end each reading session with a prayer for understanding and remembrance of the entire Bible.

One way to read the Bible is to think of it as seven volumes:

1. Genesis to Deuteronomy
2. Joshua to Esther
3. Job to Song of Solomon
4. Isaiah to Malachi
5. Matthew to Acts
6. Romans to Philemon
7. Hebrews to Revelation

You can read a chapter in each volume every day. This will keep you current in every part of the Bible. There won't be any part of the Bible that you haven't read recently enough to remember what it says. When you reach the end of a volume, simply start again at the first chapter of that volume. In this way, you will be cycling through smaller volumes like #6 and #7 much more often than larger volumes like #2, but the smaller volumes are so much more dense with doctrine that it can be profitable to read them over and over more often.

Also, you can listen to recordings of people reading the Bible, whenever you need to keep your eyes on something else while you listen (such as keeping your eyes on the road while you drive, or on a cutting board while you're preparing food, or on your clippers while you're trimming a hedge). In this way, you can listen to the Bible throughout the day, whenever you don't need to be thinking about something else (such as at your workplace). And you can listen to the Bible even while you're going to sleep, so that it will become part of even your subconscious mind.

 

[cyclingchristian]

I am a 26 year old female. I am wanting to build a relationship with God and really don't know where to begin. I feel so uneducated on the subject and don't really know which steps to take. I've tried praying and asking God into my life, but I don't ever get that strong feeling that I've heard so many people talk about. When will it start to click? When will I begin feeling God's presence? I consider myself a good person. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs. However, I sometimes feel that I judge others too quickly. I have a hard time being compassionate and I tend to look at what's on the outside rather than what's on the inside. I feel like I am constantly seeking approval from others. Most of my happiness is superficial. I see and hear people who have a strong faith in God, and their lives seem so much more fulfilling than my own. I let negative people get the best of me. I often get caught up in petty drama (at work, for example), rather than being the one who stays clear of it. I am trying to better myself as a person and feel that having a strong relationship with God will help guide me to being happier and having a better appreciation for life. I've noticed myself wanting to be more reclusive lately... wanting to distance myself from friends who aren't supportive and wanting to stay clear of anyone who brings negative energy into my life. I am really focused on bettering myself. Does anyone have any advice for me? How to I begin to build a relationship with God and live a more fulfilling life dedicated to his word?

Hi, I am new to this site (and any others like it!) and today was my first time in searching anything like this. I zoomed right in on your thread as it is exactly like I feel at the moment. I am trying to get a relationship with God and reading the bible and an Alpha course book but am not getting any strong feelings also of whether it is right or if I am doing something wrong. I hear of people 'coming to faith' and getting revelations in their life but it just does not seem to be happening for me. Maybe I am looking for giant leaps and not small steps.

So I was wondering how the last few months have been for you and if you feel any clearer on your faith issues and if you have felt his presence yet?

Would be good to hear from you with any advice etc....